A lot of Bahraini's have Iranian grandmothers... or Some iranian roots.. But you'll be hard pressed to find ones that speak Farsi..

However a lot do speak what we call 'Ajmi'.. A bastardized colluqial version of Farsi.. And some others speak 'Holli'.. A language spoken by mainly Sunnni's of persian decent...

Its not a direct consequence of having been under persian rule 200 odd years ago, as you will find Ajmi-speaking ppl even in Kuwait, and some other Gulf countries i believe..

Iran officially gave up its claim on Bahrain in the early 1970s with the UK's withdrawl from the Persian Gulf. Under the agreement, Iran would end her claim on Bahrain and replace Britain as the protector of the Persian Gulf. Until then, there were always two empty seats in Iran's Parliament for the "Bahrain Province".

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"My main mistake was to have made an ancient people advance by forced marches toward independence, health, culture, affluence and comfort."- MRP